Tampa Fishing - Captain Stewart Ames 1-3

[Fishing Report]

Seminar - Understanding Weather and Tides

Posted: 04 Jan 2012 05:08 AM PST

This Thursday Evening, January 5th at 6PM, I will be giving a seminar on "Understanding Weather and Tides" at West Marine / 1721 Gulf to Bay Boulevard / Clearwater, Florida 33755. From November through March, weather fronts play a large role in our local fishing. Tides are a critical factor as well. Knowing how to pick the days and times to fish will greatly improve your fishing results. As always, pizza and drinks will be available. Don't forget to bring a recent "best catch" picture to be entered into the drawing for the West Marine gift card. I look forward to seeing you there.
January 2012 Tampa Fishing Report

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 07:39 AM PST

There is no way around it. January is winter and the species of fish that are available become clearly defined. Most Tampa fishing guides working the waters off of northern Pinellas County have their sights set on two gamefish...large seatrout and redfish. Snook have headed out to sea or up the rivers and creeks in search of warm water and won't become a dependable target again until spring. On the bright side, the seatrout available are the biggest of the year and can be extremely abundant under the right conditions. With numerous cold fronts having already passed through, rest assured that there is a sizable population of these "chunky yellowmouths" already in residence. Until early spring, it will be all about the tides, weather and water clarity. Like so many of their inshore counterparts, trout feed best on moving tides. The bigger the better. This is a critical enough factor that most Tampa fishing charter departure times are based on the tides. On many days, Tampa fishing guides will post up on a spot where trout are known to be and wait for the maximum tidal flow to "flip the switch" on these trout. Once water movement becomes strong, fish will begin to feed aggressively. Should fish not begin to bite, relocate quickly as it is likely that fish are not present....and the clock is ticking. So long as the tide continues to move, fish will bite when you find them. When it slows, the switch may go off and the next opportunity will be hours away on the next strong tide. The other huge factor is the movement of weather fronts. As a general rule, fishing will improve each day closer to an impending cold front. With the arrival of the front, the fishing comes to a screaching halt...at least for a day or so. Exceptionally cold fronts can turn off the action for as much as three days. What really happens here is that fish become shocked by the cold and become focused on finding the warmest water around. After a couple of days, inshore waters, which cool extremely fast, will warm equally fast, given sunny conditions, and fish will get back into their comfort zones and begin to eat. A common question is "At what temperature do the fish stop eating?" Although extremely cold water...low fifties...will always slow the bite, the most important factor is the change in temperature. Pre-front water temperatures might be 64 degrees. Evening air temperatures the night the front arrives might be 42. The resulting water temperatures the next morning might be 56 degrees. Tampa fishing guides know that fishing will always be tough in this scenario and often attempt to re-schedule their trips. Water clarity is the third issue affecting the trout bite. In most cases, dirty water follows a cold front as it is the high winds associated with the front that cause this situation so, by not fishing immediately behind a front, most of the muddy water will be avoided. Do be aware that windy, warmer days, which tend to occur more regularly in the spring, can hinder an angler's ability to catch trout however. So by watching tides and weather, the recreational angler can quite effectively determine which Tampa fishing days are best to be on the water.

Although not found in the numbers that trout are in the winter, redfish certainly represent another species worth spending some angling hours to pursue. Tampa fishing charters for redfish are best on the high and the low tides. Low tides tend to concentrate redfish in the deeper waters of potholes and channels, where they wait for higher tides to allow them to move back up on to the flats to feed. High tides, as in the summer months, allow redfish to move up to well known feeding stations such as oyster bars, points and residential docks. It is during the middle phase of the tide that redfish may actually be the hardest to find. When combining this information with the best times to target trout, it becomes clear as to why most Tampa fishing guides fish a certain pattern during the day to maximize fish catching opportunities. Fish trout on the incoming tide until it slows down and then switch to redfish on the higher phases of the tide. As the tide starts to move out, go fish trout again during maximum water movement and, when it's gone, look for redfish in the potholes. Redfish may be slightly more cold tolerant than trout but, for the most part, weather fronts and tides affect redfishing in a similar fashion, although muddy water doesn't discourage them from eating as much. Another interesting point about catching redfish in the winter is that they become more particular regarding what they eat. In the summer, almost any available bait will catch a redfish....shrimp, pinfish, cut mullet, ladyfish, mackerel, lizardfish, bluefish etc.. During the colder months, redfish become very crustacean oriented...crabs and shrimp are best. Occassionally, they'll eat smaller pinfish. The point here is plan on buying shrimp if you want to target redfish in the winter.

Outside of the primary gamefish mentioned above, there are a two other fish targeted on winter Tampa fishing charters. Sheephead, commonly pursued when it's cold, are usually available but fishing for them seems to get better in February and March. The other and cousin to the red fish, is the black drum. Sometimes, schools of large black drum will move up inside of St. Joseph's Sound and present the inshore angler with the rare opportunity to catch a 30 - 40 lbs fish. More dependably though, are the young black drum which will sporadically gather in potholes or around residential docks. Typcal size is 15 to 20 inches. Unlike the adults, these small drum have distinct striped markings, somewhat resembling a sheephead. These puppy drum love shrimp, pull hard and have surprisingly tasty white flesh. Although they are harder to target than redfish, they are usually caught in the same areas so winter Tampa redfishing charters often turn up a few drum.

Some of the most comforatable days to fish occur in the winter months. Combine this with the fact that, due to the abundance of large seatrout, tampa fishing charters may produce dozens of fish this time of year. It's a great time to be on the water....as long as key variables are monitored to maximize fishing opportunities. Good luck and good fishing.



Gone Fishing Charters
Tampa Bay
Capt Stewart Ames.
http://www.tampa-fishing-charter.com/
727-742-5291